I think you're right on point in finding it reprehensible...
Journalist #1:
Quote: you cant really blame the reporter here, he probably had not even heard of DMT until the cops told him.
Attempt to excuse ignorance in a profession that's supposedly rooted in research/fact-checking sources.
Quote: wghp is actually a really good shop.
Irrelevant banality...the goodness of wghp isn't the issue at hand.
Quote: The web script says: "Dr. Sam Gray, a physician with Drug Free NC, says that the highly addictive drug will only grow in popularity." So it's more on this doctor than the news report. no where in the piece does the reporter say anything about "addictive".
DMT (or any other drug's) addictive properties are easily researched. Another attempt to excuse ignorance...the doctor's claims should have been fact-checked and/or minimal research should have been done re: DMT.
Quote:I would never have a reporter speculate on the moral aspects of an illegal drug, we are going to report people getting busted meth, crack, lsd, weed, and molly all the same, its not up to us in the news media to decide which illegal drugs are bad and wich ones are good. besides most adult know the difference between shrooms and crack.
On point about morality, but "bad/good" don't mean anything...they should be reporting the potential hazards of a given drug accurately, however.
Quote: the guy never said its addictive.
Already addressed.
Quote: of course it can be dangerous, just like any drug. but don't expect that reporter to go out of his way to make an illegal drug look "not so bad" he would probably get in trouble.
Everything has the potential to be dangerous...water can be dangerous. First sentence is more irrelevant banality, probably resulting from drug war propaganda. Second sentence is an excuse for ignorance clearly resulting from the conditions created by the drug war. It's not a question of making something look "good" or "bad"...it's a question of reporting the facts.
Journalist #2:
Quote:I find the ignorance here astounding. (Journalist #1) is actually throwing some real information at you people, and you insist in wallowing in your self-righteousness.
Ad hominem followed by appeal to authority
Quote:Believe me, were any one of you with first-hand knowledge of the substance to come out and talk about it (and they would conceal your identity), they'd jump on the story. Or you can just sit here and whine about it.
Falsehood, ime, followed by ad hominem.
Quote:I've actually been a journalist for nearly 20 years, and the job of a journalist is not necessarily to present facts, but information. Those are not always the same.
this person actually said this
Quote: I can tell you that in situations like these, people like you, who often have intimate knowledge of an opposing position, refuse to actually go on camera to be part of the discussion. Journalists, then, are left with getting as much information as they can to fill the time they are responsible for in a newscast. Feeding that beast may smack our righteous sensibilities about what news should be, but it's the real world, and we do what we can.
Bull. They don't need "us" to tell them what a simple google/wiki search can tell them. More excuses for ignorance. The onus is on the reporters to engage in solid reporting...they chose their profession.
Quote:No journalist can know everthing, and it is unfair of you to indict Brandon for not knowing much about the substance. And to think one can inform oneself in the course of a news day is also unrealistic.
We're talking 10-15 minutes of research,
tops, to grasp the essentials of the substance that is the entirety of the article being written. That's too much to ask for? Expecting journalists to "inform themselves" prior to running a story is "unrealistic"?
Quote:So he was left referencing his expert interviews.
Who he neglected to fact-check? Really?? I thought this was the job of a journalist...
Quote: That you would rather insult his journalistic integrity than endeavor to understand the real-world confines within which he works seems rather juvenile in it's idealism. You certainly seem smart enough to know better, but I've been let down before.
Excuse for ignorance followed by ad hominem.
Quote:In the end, Brandon was left relaying the best information he had at the time.
But, he could have easily gotten better information...while exerting practically no effort.
Quote:Every story I do would be better if I had another hour or another day to work on it. But I rarely do...such is journalism and it's deadlines.
No need for "another hour"...certainly not "another day." How much time was spent finding that "expert?" How much time was spent doing whatever preliminary research was done?
Quote: So I challenge you to now take part in the discussion, or if you're not in the Greensboro, NC area, to try to put him in touch with someone who can.
Again, while a person could easily talk and set the facts straight...wouldn't the interviewee's statements need to be fact-checked? Why not just do the research first?
Quote:I worked with Brandon Jones for a while. I suspect if you knew him, you'd be less critical...and maybe you'd help him with a subject you actually know something about.
His personality has nothing to do with the piece of yellow journalism he published. He just needed/needs to do the basic research.
Quote:I find it ironic that you blast this news story for it's inaccuracies and ignorance, but, in this thread, refuse to learn from two news professionals why things came out the way they did.
Excuse for ignorance followed by appeal to authority. Also *its, Mr. journalist.
Quote:Instead, you all seem quite comfortable with believing only what's convenient to your world view. What I've read in this thread is much the same nonsense I hear from other ill-informed people who would rather complain than try to help fix the problem.
Ad hominem
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The OHTIn New York, we wrote the legal number on our arms in marker...To call a lawyer if we were arrested.
In Istanbul, People wrote their blood types on their arms. I hear in Egypt, They just write Their names.
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